Patrician Locations ~ South SudanPatricians were in SS from 2012 - 2014

Perhaps the first seed for a Patrician involvement in South Sudan was planted in 2007 when a Patrician spent a few months there working in a health dispensary. A few months later, Congregation Leader Br Jerome Ellens attended a meeting where Religious Congregations were asked to consider sending members to assist the Solidarity for South Sudan (SSS) with their work there. This group was formed in 2004, at that time fifty-eight Congregations agreed to assist the SSS with either personnel or funds.With so much effort being put into the establishing of a Patrician foundation in Ghana, the Brothers put SSS at the front of the shelf for future attention.

Four years later at the Patrician Extended Council held in 2011 it was decided to turn some attention to the Brothers becoming personally involved in the work of the SSS. Only weeks later two Brothers had volunteered for this work: Br Thomas Muldowney, an Irishman who has ministered in India for over thirty-five years, and in Kenya for six; and Br Placido Kaburu, a Kenyan Brother who made his First Profession as a Patrician in 2006.

In May, 2012, Br Placido arrived at the South Sudanese capital of Juba. He spent two weeks there before moving on to Wau, 600 kilometres north-west of Juba. This is where he will minister as the finance manager for the Catholic Health Training Institute. This is somewhat removed from his previous ministry of working with the homeless children of Nairobi, but this is the most pressing need in Wau. There is a chance of moving back into working with homeless children in Wau in a few years.Br Thomas will arrived in South Sudan in September. He will be teaching English to students in Malakal, 800 kilometres north-east of Juba. Like Br Placido he will live with a community of priests, sisters, and brothers, from around the world. He, like Placido, will be isolated from his Patrician confreres, a totally new experience for Br Thomas.

South Sudan is a difficult mission, perhaps as difficult in some ways as the Papua New Guinea mission of the 1960s and 70s. Supplies, transport, and personal security, are all areas of constant concern. May the God they serve protect and guide them in their ministries.

An SSS missionary with infants - the SSS logo - flag of South Sudan - Br Placido with homeless children and pausing for a meal

Fr Joseph Callistus (Contact)SSS Country Project DirectorSolidarity with South SudanP.O. Box 144, Juba, South SudanEmail:sssjuba@gmail.comVideosBr Placido ArrivesSolidarity of South SudanA Village in South SudanThe Birth of South Sudan